We started out with a brief stop at the Skagit Game Range off of Wiley Road on Fir Island (where a Marsh Wren sang and Hooded Mergansers were in a canal), hoping to find the Great Horned Owl still on the nest. We were disappointed, but did see a spectacular Yellow-rumped Warbler of the Audubon race - it blasted our eyes out it was so bright. A Bewick's Wren sang, a couple of Song Sparrows worked the bushes, and a Purple Finch gave us fits until we spotted it in the top of a tree. A Spotted Towhee skulked around. A male Wood Duck was in the canal near the entrance to the area. On the way out we got nice looks a  large flock of Snow Geese working one of the fields over, some Mew and Glaucous-winged Gulls were also in the fields. One of the canals had Mallards, Gadwall, and a single Green-winged Teal. A bunch of American Wigeon was feeding in a field, but spooked when a male Northern Harrier made an almost vertical dive and caught breakfast. A group of female Red-winged Blackbirds included a female Brown-headed Cowbird. A Cinnamon Teal was in a small puddle by the side of the road along Fir Island Road.

 

Rosario Beach was its usual excellent self - we saw Pigeon Guillemots, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Common Loon, Red-necked Grebe, Red-breasted Merganser, Harlequin Duck and Black Oystercatcher. Double-crested, Brandt's and Pelagic Cormorants were on the rocks.  Near the parking lot there were Golden-crowned Kinglets singing and Black-capped and Chestnut-backed Chickadees. Way off shore a Common Murre was seen, and a Rhinoceros Auklet flew by. A Rufous Hummingbird perched briefly. A Bald Eagle flew over, came and perched in the top of a Douglas Fir and squeeked at us. White-crowned Sparrows were singing, a couple of Dark-eyed Juncos flitted about, Pine Siskins gave their high pitched calls, a Winter Wren gave an aborted sample of it's song, and an absolutely brilliant yellow Orange-crowned Warbler showed the entire top of it's head as orange.

 

At the pond at Dugualla Bay we were greeted by a Great Blue Heron, Mallards, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Gadwall, Greater Scaup, Ring-necked Duck and several Canvasback. Violet-green Swallows were overhead and a Cliff Swallow (one of the first of the year) zoomed low over the pond.

 

Bos Lake was almost empty, but did have some Mallard, a couple of Northern Pintail. Just up the hill at the overlook out over the Strait we saw more Surf Scoter, White-winged Scoter, Bufflehead, Common Loon, Pacific Loon, Red-necked Grebe, and Horned Grebe. At the Hastie Lake access we repeated most of these birds and added House Sparrow. The Libby Beach overlook was nice for lunch and we had another pair of Harlequin Duck there. An absolutely strange sounding American Crow perched in a tree and sounded like a back-up beep on a truck.

 

The picnic spot at Fort Casey SP had Bewick's Wren, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Red-breasted Nuthatch and Hairy Woodpecker and Northern Flicker. The old platform at the Keystone Ferry terminal yielded it usual all three Cormorants, Pigeon Guillemots were in the water nearby. Across the street on Crockett Lake we saw many of the same ducks we had earlier, and in addition Greater Yellowlegs. The grass had many Savannah Sparrows. Deer Lagoon gave us nice looks at a couple of breeding plumage Black-bellied Plover, Killdeer, Greater Yellowlegs, Dunlin and Long-billed Dowitchers.

 

Along Ewing Road we had several perched Northern Rough-winged Swallows, as well as Violet-green, Tree and Barn. Elsewhere on the trip we saw Red-tailed Hawk, American Coot, Ring-billed and California Gulls, Rock Pigeon and Mourning Dove, Belted Kingfisher, Steller's Jay, Common Raven, American Robin, Varied Thrush, European Starling, Brewer's Blackbird, and House Finch.